A quick look at the district baseball tournament

Berks has 12 teams still alive in the District 3 Tournament, which continues with first-round games today.

By Darryl Grumling

Reading Eagle

Twelve Berks Baseball teams qualified for the District 3 Tournament, and after Saturday’s play-in round all 12 are still playing.

Here’s a class-by-class look at what to expect in districts, which begin in earnest today with first-round play.

CLASS AAAA

Favorite: Manheim Township (20-2). The top seed Blue Streaks, however, will have to bounce back from last week’s 3-2 loss to Hempfield in the Lancaster-Lebanon title game.

Berks’ best bet: Gov. Mifflin (15-6). Should the sixth seed Mustangs get the kind of pitching they did from Sam Eagleson and Casey Casantini in the Berks playoffs, they could be a threat to at least reach the final four.

Darkhorse: No. 8 Waynesboro (13-5). The Indians enter districts having lost three of four since a 12-2 start, but could prove to be a tough out.

Best first-round matchup: No. 7 Chambersburg (15-7) vs. No. 10 Central Dauphin (12-8), the third meeting of the season between the two traditional Mid-Penn Commonwealth powers.

Favorite: Sixth seed Kutztown (13-7). C Steve Motika leads a veteran attack for the two-time defending district champion Cougars, who have won eight straight and nine of their last 10 tournament games.

The Berks runner-up Panthers are hoping to turn the tables on the Cougars after last year’s 10-4, eight-inning loss in the 3-AA final. The Bullets, meanwhile, could have a potential quarterfinal revenge rematch with Schuylkill Valley, which eliminated them in a 10-9 walk-off thriller last year.